Toy Story

My mom has a whole bunch of toys that she has been saving for such a time as this – when her grandkids come to visit!  They include our favorite toys from when my brothers and I were kids.  I’ve been watching Elaine pull toys out of that box and discover the same fun that I remember having, and it brings back many memories!  I just can’t help but smile as I watch her enjoying the same toys that I played with as a child.

Mom has the original Little People by Fisher Price – the house, the farm, the castle, and more.  Elaine loves putting those people in the car or the tractor and driving around.  She stuffs her hood or her purse with Little People and toddles around the house.  She fills the barn with accessories and then locks the doors and carries it with her.

There is also this rocking chair that was not only used by me, Kenny, and Wes as kids, but it belonged to Mom as a little girl.  It needs repair, but Elaine doesn’t seem to mind.  She loves it.

On Monday night I went to BSF with Mom while Dad played babysitter for Elaine.  He said that she was very content to just sit in the rocking chair while he sat next to her in the recliner.  (Of course, they were watching Fox News).

I read an article a while back that listed 20 things kids today would never understand.  One of them was the rotary telephone toys.  I agreed with them at the time.  However, Elaine has never seen a real phone – only cell phones.  That hasn’t stopped her from talking on the calculator or an ink pen, or anything else that can be put to her ear.  She picked the old Fisher Price telephone out of the toy box and immediately put the handset to her ear, and started dialing.  It was very cute!

Watching Elaine with all these toys at Grandma’s house also made me recall my visits to Grams & Gramps’ house in Oklahoma.  Grams had a long closet in the hall with low shelves that housed all of the toys for the grandkids.  I particularly remember a little doll boutique where you could accessorize the dolls with hats and other items.  There was also a wooden “work bench” with colored “nails” that you pounded down, then flipped over and pounded them back again.  When Grams & Gramps moved into the house on Edmond St. the toys went into the bottom of the coat closet in the entry way.  There were lots of games that we enjoyed at that point also, since we were older.  I remember Slamwich and Sequence in particular.  They were often accompanied by the best ever popcorn – made by Gramps.

Those are times that I will always remember, and I hope Elaine will remember these special visits with her grandparents too.